This crossword puzzle was adapted from a column that I wrote during
the 1980s entitled, "The Unorthodox Glossary of Geological Terms" where
I selected certain jargon and technical words from a geologist's dictionary,
known only to earth scientists, and wrote whimsically twisted "definitions"
to approximate what lay persons untrained in science might believe them
to mean.

ACROSS CLUES

3. Pretty good
6. Geologists' favorite cuss word
8. Group of French mobsters
11. Geologist's houseplant
13. Small black bird which builds its nests in outcrops of metamorphic
rocks
14. Basic tool of the geologist's trade
15. Binoculars give you a view from ----.
17. Igneous rock that sometimes lives up to its name
20. Ridiculously simple
21. Sandstone deposit discovered by Noah - named after his boat
26. Sick pet rock
27. American musical form, combining old and new rock
29. Mushy sediment which you wouldn't want to step into
30. Name of the volcano in the Carribean named after a famous soccer
player.
31. The only thing worse than an apparent dip is a ---- dip.
32. Lousy weather can be found by this symbol on a weather map.
33. When a fault refuses to budge, both sides are said to be ------
36. Music that is lightweight or superficial (i.e. pumice, which some
people lava lot)
39. Symptom of indigestion
41. The most happening place we know of.
42. Chicago has a lake; San Francisco has a ---.
43. What geologists exclaim when the sun comes up.

DOWN CLUES1. The country that 1 out of 4 college freshman could not locate on
a blank world map
2. Sodium chloride substitute, which looks more like pepper
3. Latest cleaning feature on high-tech washing machines
4. Rock that fails to break windows
5. Mushy, sedimental music with a laid-back beat
7. Music flavored by those inclined to be igneous, or just plain ignorant
9. Geologists who habitually eat camp food will get ---.
10. Measure of duration
12. Abbreviation of a city that lives on a fault line
13. One of the little men of the wetlands
16. The residue of incinerated insects
18. Abbreviation for the sunshine state
19. A good way to get lost, if you can't read one
22. Dark, fairly basic soft drink, low in calories
23. Ill-mannered Irish pet rock
24. Insufferably uninteresting drill hole
25. Senile old geologist
28. Shatterproof plastic
34. Have a gneiss ---.
35. This volcano's eruption may have originated the legend of Atlantis
37. No-no
38. Type of precipiation which can't decide whether it's rain or fog
39. One spin of Terra
40. "Soil" as pronounced in the southern U.S., or one of numerous germ-killing
home cleaning products

Because the above "clues" were intentionally mangled definitions,
a list of words has been provided to preserve your sanity: